Those who live in areas where the winter climate brings snow, know all too well of the work associated with the snow removal process. Those that must remove snow from driveways, sidewalks, and porches, typically utilize a snow shovel to help in this process. Snow shovel design typically includes an elongated handle having a wide shovel blade with various degrees of curved surfaces. While snow shovels work, they are not without disadvantages. One (1) of these disadvantages is the risk of back pain or injury that may result from lifting heavy loads of snow. During snow removal process the user is forced to bend over, scoop an amount of snow with the shovel, and lift and throw the snow to desired location. Even if injury is avoided, the process is tiring and time consuming. It is thus easy to see that when coupled with cold weather, large amounts of snow, and frequent snow removal schedules, the process can become quite daunting.
Some attempts to improve upon the snow shovel can be seen by reference in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,103,954, issued in the name of Vaslas, describes a snow shovel having an auxiliary handle to enable a user to shovel snow without having to bend over; and, 4,772,057, issued in the name of Harvey, describes a balanced snow shovel to enable the user to lift snow with more ease and without suffering back strain. These designs are unsatisfactory, making it very difficult to push or plow snow and limit the amount of snow which can be removed for a given amount of effort.
The pushing or “plowing” motion enables the user to remove much more snow without having to lift the snow off the ground. Attempts have been made to provide devices which enable the user to push snow to the side instead of having to shovel it and can be seen by example in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,388,985, issued in the name of Martin, describes an adjustable two-way hand snow plow; 4,910,893, issued in the name of Asay, describes a manually operated snow plow or other utility device; 5,048,883, issued in the name of Waluk, describes a snow shovel/scraper; 5,493,797, issued in the name of Jackson, describes a wheeled plow shovel; 5,581,915, issued in the name of Labato, describes a snowplow carriage assembly for manual snow removal; 6,053,548, issued in the name of Bowles, Jr., describes a manually-operated combination shovel and plow for snow and other material. However, these examples are unsatisfactory to achieve the maximum amount of snow removal proportional to the amount of effort used in that they are not properly designed to harness the full force of the user and they fail to allow for proper adjustment for the varying sizes of different users.
The disclosures of the above referenced examples are incorporated herein by reference. Each of these prior attempts suffers from one (1) or more of the aforementioned disadvantage or deficiency with respect to design, function, or effectiveness. Accordingly, there exists a need for a means by which the risk of back pain or injury while using a snow shovel can be greatly reduced while increasing the efficiency of the snow removal process. The development of the present invention substantially departs from the conventional solutions and in doing so fulfills this need.